Chapter 2222 Archons Both the Larkinson Clan and the Crona Lords reacted with astonishment as the bow-mounted laser cannons succeeded in doing the impossible. They managed to overwhelm the defenses of second-class mechs! Not only that, the incredibly powerful laser beams even destroyed the Hexer mechs! The threat level of the Allidus trade convoy fleet had abruptly been raised. Ves, Major Verle, Calabast and many other Larkinson leaders exhibited considerable surprise at the daring of the Allidus Alliance. It wasn’t enough for them to construct their own heavy cruiser, but they also armed their other vessels! Even if only three of the Allidus ships boasted a laser cannon, the mere presence of one of them was enough to step on the toes of the Big Two. These Nyxian pirates truly held no respect towards the rules that governed human space! A couple of more mechs started to launch from the pirate carriers as the three laser cannons already started to charge up for another shot. With his extensive expertise in laser weapon technology and his existing understanding of the Omega Laser, he deduced some more details. "Those warship-grade laser mounts are powerful only by virtue of their size, not their technological superiority. Their energy output is strong, but it takes a very long time for them to safely discharge another full-powered shot. The laser mounts aren’t installed on the ships in the form of turrets, but are instead recessed deep in those bow cavities. While they are better protected against enemy fire, the medium carriers have to rotate precisely in order to hit a solid target. As long as all of our mechs take evasive actions, there is a decent chance that those laser cannons will miss. If we can put those armed ships under pressure, then they can’t bring their big guns to bear." While those laser cannons were very powerful, as long as the Larkinson Clan focused their fire on them, it was not impossible to disable them! The mere threat of doing so should already be sufficient in suppressing the Allidus fleet! During this entire time, Calabast had been looking up the intelligence the Black Cats had gathered on their new opponents. "There has been a lot of talk over the years about the Allidus Alliance arming their starships with warship-grade weapons, but there have been few confirmations. Word of a so-called ’Judgement Laser’ has spread in some corners of the galactic net. I suppose they are true." She reported. "Despite parading around a heavy cruiser, Allidus normally refrains from showing off anything else. It is rather uncharacteristic for this pirate alliance to expose these weapons just to reinforce a rather modest trading partner." Certainly, it would hurt customers like Allidus if Xiphard Base no longer existed. However, there were more suppliers of Kavenit in the Nyxian Gap, so it was not as if the Crona Lords played an indispensable goal. Yet Lord Drogen did not hesitate in confronting the Larkinson Clan. He even decided to expose his trump cards at the beginning in order to prove to everyone that the Penitent Sister mechs were mortal! As Major Verle received more information, he came up with a revised battle plan to deal with the changing circumstances of the battle. "Commander Melkor, reorient your Avatars of Myth towards the Allidus fleet. Your men will be required to suppress those Judgement Lasers. Knock them out if you can. Disperse your forces and attack those recessed weapon mounts from multiple directions. Those medium carriers can’t possibly shield their Judgement Lasers from every angle!" "Understood, Major." Commander Melkor acknowledged. "Commander Magdalena, your Living Sentinels should cease their current advance. Instead, pivot them around and pivot them towards the incoming Allidus mechs. Hold back the reinforcing pirate mechs. Wipe them out if you can but pull them into a stalemate if you don’t. Either is fine." "Commander Orfan and Commander Dise, your current instructions are still valid. Hold back and observe the battle lines. If the Crona Lords or Allidus Alliance are close to overwhelming some of our forces, move in and spoil their plans." "Commander Chancy, while the majority of the Crona Lord mechs are still intact, you have done a good job at demolishing their remaining turrets and fixed defenses. Your Penitent Sisters should be able to defeat the rest of the Crona Lords by themselves." "Commander Cinnabar, assist the Penitent Sisters in dismantling the Crona Lords. After that, focus on securing or cleaning up the remaining resistance in or around Xiphard Base. Force the pirates into surrender." The string of orders along with the illusion of control that Major Verle conveyed quickly caused the Larkinson combat troops regain their composure. Even if the Allidus Alliance brought some Judgement Lasers, the Larkinson Clan were still strong! "Send in some of the reserves! Have them circle around and block the probable escape route of the Allidus trade convoy. Since they have chosen to throw their lot in with the Crona Lords, then they should stay here to the bitter end!" The battle intensified as the formations of Larkinson mechs started to split up. The majority of the mechs oriented towards the Allidus Alliance ships and mechs. Only the Penitent Sisters along with a modest number of Battle Criers continued their attack run on the Crona Lords! Despite being outnumbered by more than three-to-one, none of the Penitent Sister mech pilots lost confidence! Now that the Crona Lords had lost all of their fixed defenses, there was nothing from stopping the Penitent Sisters from targeting the pirate mechs! Supreme Lord Roda didn’t have the time to catch up to Lord Drogen. He was shouting orders after orders in an attempt to find a way to stop the Penitent Sisters. He would rather face thousands of Avatar and Sentinel mechs than confront a couple of hundred Penitent Sister mechs. At least with the former his forces could still make them bleed. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢 Without the Alpha Mines, Beta Ships and Omega Laser, Roda found that his Crona Lords were completely unequipped to stop the Penitent Sisters from drawing closer! Once the Hexer mechs entered melee range, the cover that his mechs relied upon to stall their defeats would play no role anymore! Only the Judgement Lasers of the Allidus Alliance could save his Crona Lords from destruction, but their allies were too preoccupied to come to the aid of Xiphard Base! Around 400 Avatar mechs confronted 300 Allidus mechs! From the furious exchange of ranged volleys to the intense collision between melee mechs, the two forces seemed to have met their match! Commander Melkor, who piloted a rifleman mech and simultaneously commanded his men from the rear, saw that the Allidus mechs were actually piloted by very skilled pirates! Along with skill, the Allidus mech pilots also possessed an abundant amount of battle experience. None of their mechs showed any signs of panic or loss of control. What was worse, the pirates also exhibited close cooperation and coordination! Though none of their battle tactics, formations and maneuvers were sophisticated, the Allidus mech force fought like a well-oiled machine! In comparison, the Avatar mech pilots were a lot more inconsistent and not nearly as stable! The battle-hardened pirates largely compensated for their inferior mechs by exhibiting much greater grit! The battle between the elite components of the two forces was a sight to behold. The Bright Warriors, which were all clad with Breyer alloy, were all being constrained by a slightly larger number of elite pirate mechs! However, once the Avatars began to adjust to the rhythm of the pirates, the glows of their started to make a difference. The confidence of the Avatar mech pilots constantly swelled while the pirate mech pilots came under varying degrees of mental pressure. The regular Allidus mechs already started to flag, but the elite mechs remained steadfast! Calabast quickly identified this strong unit. "Those elite pirate mechs are part of the Allidus Archons." "Who the hell are the Archons?" Ves asked. "They’re the 10 percent most skilled mech pilots in the service of the Allidus Alliance. They are renowned for their battle prowess, brotherhood, fearlessness and powerful mechs!" Their mechs were far better than any other pirate mech that Ves encountered so far. The wealth and power of the Allidus Alliance had made it possible for its mech production facilities to fabricate mechs that reinforced its dominance! As Ves studied the performance of the Archon mechs, he began to recite their properties. "The elite mechs are bridge mechs. Their offense, defense and mobility are all superior to premium and premier third-class mechs. They are not second-class mechs and can still be defeated by our Avatars." He zoomed in on the Avatar mech company led by Captain Casella Ingvar. She had opted to take full advantage of the defensive prowess of the Bright Warrior mechs in order to block and entangle the Archon mechs as much as possible. "Our Bright Warriors possess a decisive advantage in defense. The Archon mechs aren’t nearly as tough, though their shells will need to be hit many times in order to crack them open. Their weapons are fairly powerful though and they pose a significant threat to our regular mechs. Their slight advantage in mobility makes them elusive as well, and it is difficult to pin them in place." "What are their vulnerabilities?" Major Verle asked. Before Ves could answer, the Allidus rifleman mechs suddenly changed their firing mode. Much different beams of energy spat out from the muzzles of their weapons and struck the lighter-armored ranged mechs of the Larkinson Clan! "Alert! The Allidus ranged mechs are firing gamma lasers!" "What?!" The mechs struck by intense, high-energy gamma rays exhibited signs of immediate debilitation as a significant portion of energy rays has bypassed the armor plating and began to deposit a multitude of energy throughout the interior, including the cockpit! Ves banged his fist against his armrest. "Those depraved pirates! The Allidus Alliance have gone too far! Only the most depraved degenerates of the galaxy make use of gamma laser weapons! Do not let up on them. We must wipe away this stain before they can unleash their destruction on innocent people!" Many members of the Larkinson Clan were truly horrified now. The use of gamma laser weapons crossed yet another line. The sheer brazenness of the Allidus Alliance had exceeded all proportions! "Pull the disabled mechs back. Suppress those Allidus ranged mechs. Don’t let them fire on our vulnerable mechs." Commander Melkor quickly commanded. The Bright Warriors were capable of blocking virtually all of the destructive penetrating rays of gamma lasers, but the problem was that the Allidus Archon mechs were doing their best to keep them busy! The Avatars mechs were roughly on equal ground to the Allidus mechs at the moment. While the superior defenses of the former would ultimately ensure they would get the upper hand, the ferocious, well-trained Allidus mech pilots had already reaped some Avatar lives! Though Major Verle looked concerned at this awful turn of events, he did not panic just yet. This was because a single mech company of black-coated mechs had finally circled around and begun to charge the high-threat rifleman mechs armed with graser rifles. "Sisters!" Commander Dise yelled as her powerful mentality seemed to spread across her entire mech! "Ready your blades!" The gamma laser mechs immediately recognized their own peril. They stopped pressuring the Avatar mechs and brought their weapons to bear against the charging swordsman mechs! As the pirate mechs unleashed an extremely energetic volley of gamma lasers, the Swordmaidens reacted in a surprising fashion! Instead performing evasive maneuvers, they instead swung their blades in a blocking position just before the pirate mechs fired their weapons. Surprisingly, all forty swordsman mechs managed to block the deadly rays with the heavy blades of their greatswords! The pirate captain commanding the gamma laser mechs couldn’t believe what had just happened! In fact, Ves and Major Verle were astonished as well! They had never seen swordsman mechs blocking incoming fire so well! Though the lethality of the graser rifles was immense, their energy requirements were considerably greater as well. Ves knew very well that those rifles featured a fairly slow firing rate. This gave enough time for the Swordmaiden mech pilots to brace their mechs against another volley of attacks. When a shower of gamma rays began to concentrate on just half-a-dozen swordsman mechs, the Swordmaidens reacted appropriately. Several swordsman mechs flying alongside the targeted mechs unhesitantly reached out their greatswords with rapid speed in order to block the rays that the original targets couldn’t block! Though this hasty defense maneuver failed to block every graser beam, the ones that went through only hit the legs or some other unimportant section of the mechs. The Swordmaiden mechs advanced indomitably regardless of how many gamma rays irradiated their greatswords! Though the ranged mechs of the Allidus Alliance had already begun to fly backwards, the Swordmaidens possessed too much of a head-start! In just a short amount of time, Commander Dise and her fellow sisters crashed into their targets and chopped them all apart in a matter of seconds! "Weak!"